Washboard.



s. I. women. msmaoun APPLIUATIQN FILER!) APR. 1, 1908. V

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

INVENTOH (L/Z170 'Coizrz or W ra WITNESSES A TTOHN E YS FFEGE.

SARAH F. OCONNOR, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

WASHIBOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 17, 1908.

Application filed April 1, 1908. Serial No. 424,483.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SARAH F. OCoNNoR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved lVashboard, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention is an improvement in wash boards principally designed and constructed for soaping clothes and rubbing out spots preparatory to passing the clothes through the washing machine. In soaping clothes it is desirable that an approximately horizontal support be provided accessible to water, and from which the water will run to the usual drainage or tub. If a tub be used it is further desirable that the support be elevated above its bottom and above the normal level of the water therein.

I aim to provide a device of this character, fulfilling these conditions, by constructing a board having hooks at each end for engaging over the top edge of the tub and supporting the board therein in a slightly depressed position, the board being preferably constructed of slats corrugated longitudinally on their upper faces, these corrugations not only engaging the clothes and preventing them from slipping when the clothes are scrubbed with a suitable rubbing device, but also serving as a rubbing surface.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the board complete, and Fig. 2 is a view, partly in section, illustrating the board applied to a tub.

Specifically described, the board is made up of a series of slats 5, preferably corrugated longitudinally on their upper faces and arranged side by side and fairly close together, and have secured to their under faces at opposite ends, U-shaped metal hangers 6, the connection between the hangers and slats being efiected by bolts 7, the latter having the heads countersunk below the upper surface of the slats. The free end of each hanger is fashioned into an upwardly-turned hook 8 arranged above the top of the slats, the hooks being designed to engage over the top edge of a tub, as illustrated in Fig. 3, and support the board slightly depressed therein in an approximately horizontal position. V

In the use of the board it is placed over the tub, as shown in Fig. 3, and the clothes to be washed are seated thereon, in which position they may be conveniently soaped and scrubbed, the corrugations in the top faces of the slats operating to prevent the clothes from slipping during this rubbing operation should the rubbing be performed by a separate device; or these corrugations may be used the same as in an ordinary washing board in rubbing the clothes thereover in washing out spots. After the clothes have been thoroughly soaked, and the spots removed, they are in readiness to pass through the washing'machine.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A board for soapingclothes, comprising a series of slats arranged side by side and spaced apart to provide openings for the passage of water, and an approximately U- shaped member secured to the under side of said slats near each end thereof, each member having upwardly-projecting hooks at its extremities, arranged above the top face of the board and adapted to engage over the top edge of a tub and support the board thereover in an approximately horizontal position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SARAH F. OOONNOR.

'lVitnesses VVJV. HOLT, EVERARD B. MARsHALL. 

